Earlier today, we reported that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is rumored to be in a coma, with sources saying that his sister Kim Yo Jong may have already taken over days after her brother gave her more power.

The New York Post reported that while Kim Jong Un’s demise may seem like a good thing, experts are now warning that his sister may be an even worse and more ruthless dictator than he was.

“I haven’t seen any evidence, any indication of how she might rule, but my speculation — given the reputation and history of the family — is that she would rule with an iron fist,” retired US Army Col. David Maxwell said of Kim Yo Jong, 32.

Maxwell, who is the co-author of the Pentagon’s original 1999 contingency plan with South Korea for the collapse of the North’s regime, went on to add that there was tons of speculation that Kim Jong Un “would be more open to the outside word” when he succeeded his father, Kim Jong Il, in 2011.

“That hasn’t been borne out,” explained Maxwell, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “I think we have to assume that every successor is worse than the last.”

Maxwell then pointed out that the reports about Kim Jong Un’s health were “coming from speculation from one former diplomat,” Chang Song-min, a former aide to late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, adding, “We haven’t seen any evidence that something’s happened.”

Sung-Yoon Lee, a professor at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, rejected these reports, saying that it is a “rehashing of a false assertion” that surfaced back in April, when the dictator disappeared from the public’s view for three weeks.

“At the same time, clearly there has been a contingency plan rolled out since early March to bolster Kim Yo Jong’s credentials and have her, if and when necessary, to seize the reins of power should Kim Jong Un become incapacitated,” he said.

Lee described Kim Yo Jong as “ambitious and smart,” saying that she “does cast a softer feminine glow on the brutish facade of her regime.” Should she take power, however, he added that nature of the regime “demands she be ruthless, especially in the first few years.”

“The way for her to build up her credibility and net worth, that is, the way for her to get respect, is not to play nice but be a cruel dictator to her people and a credible nuclear threat to the US,” Lee said. “She may prove herself fiercer and more tyrannical than her brother, father, or grandfather.”